email client confusion

[gaurav_sting]

hi everyone,

i want to make a email system in php (like hivemail),
but i dont know where to start,

also i have a couple of doubts.


first - i am able to retreive mails using pop and imap, but for security reasons, i have heard that it shud be on ssl, no how can i use ssl and what it the exact technique for it.

also what happens in the background when some mail comes, or the user deletes it, --- background means in the database. What is the database structure used generally and what is methodology for managing the mails in the background.

i am also very confused for the start, i dont know where to start the system.

any help is highly appreciable.
Thank you
GAurav

[dswimboy]

whats wrong with using a premade, full featured mail client.
Open Web Mail (http://openwebmail.org/) is one that i know of.